Chicago Alliance
of Visual Artists
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CAVA is a volunteer not-for-profit organization founded in 1988 to serve artists aged 50+. We're dedicated to giving our over 300 members throughout Chicagoland the opportunity to exhibit artwork in at least three exhibits annually in such notable venues as the Chicago Cultural Center, Evanston Art Center, Bridgeport Art Center, Beverly Arts Center, and the Leslie Wolfe Gallery in Old Town.
Creating art can be a solitary occupation—CAVA organizes and presents events for older artists to come together through its exhibitions, salons, member luncheons, workshops, annual Symposium, and special events. For more information, visit our CONTACT page, and sign up for our e-newsletter.
CAVA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:
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Exhibit in the Annual Members Show;
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Enter the juried Later Impressions exhibition;
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Engage in various group and media-focused exhibitions
we organize throughout the Chicago area; -
Participate in membership social and educational programs, including our Salon/Critique Events; CAVA's Intergenerational Projects; Artist Studio Visits; and the annual CAVA Symposium.
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FEATURED CAVA ARTIST
After a successful career in law and technology consulting, CAVA member ERIC STEELE shifted his focus to creating abstract sculpture. He dove in with both feet, studying metal sculpture, jewelry, blacksmithing and related metal arts at Evanston Art Center, Lill Street Art Center, and the Ox-Bow Summer Program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Chancel Abandoned, welded steel
Eric's welded steel sculpture explores how buildings, bridges, vehicles and other physical infrastructure that surrounds us also has a profound influence on us. "We live in the negative space created by those structures," says Eric, "and they affect how we think of ourselves and the world, and how we express our ideas and beliefs."
New Chancel II, welded steel
Eric's legal and consulting experience showed him the ways in which rules and processes shape our lives, how we think, and what we do. In his sculptures studies, he is exploring how the physical environment also impacts our lives. "My current welded steel sculpture explores the interaction of man with the built and natural environments," he says. "The organic forms of man and nature are represented by architectural metaphors. My sculptures are totems, using vocabulary of our urban surroundings to express what we think, see and feel, just as ancient totems used forests, beasts, and mountains to reflect the ideas and emotions of their creators."
Left: Viictor, welded steel;
Right: Totem I, welded steel
Eric's work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Renaissance Court Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, the Arts Club of Chicago, Zhou B Art Center, and the Lincolnwood Village Hall, as well as included in numerous group shows and private collections.
Eric with his welded steel sculpture Flame